


Love Grows in Little Houses

by mppmaraudergirl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Christmas, F/M, Modern Era, Office Party, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:26:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28306014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mppmaraudergirl/pseuds/mppmaraudergirl
Summary: The Christmas party at Hogwarts Publishing Ltd. is always the event of the year, complete with a fun theme, beautiful decorations – and this year an exciting competition that Lily Evans wants to win more thananything. Problem is, her colleague James Potter feels the same.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 28
Kudos: 91
Collections: Potterverse Gift Exchange





	Love Grows in Little Houses

**Author's Note:**

  * For [prongsdamnyou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/prongsdamnyou/gifts).



> Happy holidays/Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoy your Potterverse gift :)
> 
> (Modern, Muggle, Office Romance, Texting, Non-COVID world)
> 
> Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything related belongs first, and foremost, to JK Rowling, and then to her partnerships with Bloomsbury, Scholastics, Warner Bros., etc.

**7 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald**

_Lily Evans:_ OMG

 _Lily Evans:_ did you see the email about the xmas party

 _Lily Evans:_ ????

 _Mary Macdonald:_ Hang on a sec

 _Mary Macdonald:_ …

 _Lily Evans:_ YESSSSS

**7 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: James Potter and Sirius Black**

_James Potter:_ _[James Potter is typing]_

 _Sirius Black:_ NO

 _Sirius Black:_ Stop typing

 _Sirius Black:_ I do NOT want to hear it

 _James Potter:_ BUT

 _Sirius Black:_ NO

**7 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald**

_Lily Evans:_ how is this even POSSIBLE

 _Lily Evans:_ Dumbledore is a bloody wizard I swear

 _Lily Evans:_ sdalgjiosaj

 _Mary Macdonald:_ or just really bloody rich

 _Lily Evans:_ that too

**7 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: Sirius Black and Mary Macdonald**

_Mary Macdonald:_ want to grab lunch today?

 _Mary Macdonald:_ Lily has literally not shut up since the Christmas party prize announcement came out

 _Mary Macdonald:_ I may actually strangle her if I have to see her in person right now

 _Sirius Black:_ god yes

 _Sirius Black:_ to lunch

 _Sirius Black:_ not the strangling

 _Mary Macdonald:_ [whynotboth.jpg]

**7 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: James Potter and Sirius Black**

_Sirius Black:_ you’re on your own for lunch today

 _James Potter:_ what why

_[Message marked read]_

**7 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: James Potter and Lily Evans**

_Lily Evans:_ did you see?

 _James Potter:_ duh

 _Lily Evans:_ those tickets are MINE

 _James Potter:_ uh huh. don’t worry evans when I win I’ll facetime you so you can see what a brilliant time I’m having

 _James_ _Potter:_ it’ll be ALMOST like you’re there

 _James Potter:_ but not

 _James Potter:_ because you won’t be

 _Lily Evans:_ will be hard to facetime from the match when you’ll be at home with Black instead

 _Lily Evans:_ while I am having a fabulous time

 _Lily Evans:_ if you’re nice maybe I’ll get you a new bobble hat while I’m there

 _James Potter:_ what’s wrong with my bobble hat. It’s LUCKY

 _Lily Evans:_ it’s like a million years old

 _Lily Evans:_ yet you insist on wearing it the second it gets below 21 C

 _James Potter:_ That’s because it looks great on me. And I cannot stress enough it is LUCKY.

 _James Potter:_ Moot point though because I am winning

 _James Potter:_ good luck, you’re going to need it

 _Lily Evans:_ you’re

 _Lily Evans:_ going

 _Lily Evans:_ DOWN

 _Lily Evans:_ [byebyebye.gif]

 _James Potter:_ how dare u use JT against me

**10 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald**

_Mary Macdonald:_ until about 10 minutes ago I thought today was Friday not Thursday

 _Lily Evans:_ ugh that’s the woooooorst

 _Mary Macdonald:_ I know

 _Mary Macdonald:_ What are you doing this weekend?

 _Lily Evans:_ same thing I’ve been doing all week

 _Lily Evans:_ watching people build gingerbread houses on YouTube

 _Mary Macdonald:_ OMG lily

 _Mary Macdonald:_ You are obsessed.

 _Lily Evans:_ I have to win Mary!

 _Mary Macdonald:_ You should come out with us instead

 _Mary Macdonald:_ How many gingerbread house building videos could there possibly be??

 _Lily Evans:_ idk thousands probably

 _Lily Evans:_ and who are you going with? Black?

 _Lily Evans:_ and therefore Potter?

 _Lily Evans:_ no thank you. But you should definitely keep him out late. And maybe injure one of his digits

 _Mary Macdonald:_ …

 _Lily Evans:_ I didn’t mean permanently. Just like a little bit so he’s shaky for next Saturday

_[Message marked read]_

_Lily Evans:_ c’mon I was just kidding

 _Lily Evans:_ mostly

**10 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: James Potter and Sirius Black**

_Sirius Black:_ are you finished with the cover art for the Loverly project yet?

 _James Potter:_ almost, have a couple drafted ideas

 _James Potter:_ [loverly_ed2_cvr_v1r1.pdf] [loverly_ed2_cvr_v2r1.pdf]

 _Sirius Black:_ man these are shit. You have GOT to stop designing gingerbread houses in your spare time.

 _Sirius Black:_ it’s making your actual work go to shit

 _James Potter:_ well that was constructive

 _Sirius Black:_ sorry

 _Sirius Black:_ come to my desk and we’ll talk over some revisions

 _James Potter:_ can’t. have a meeting with Remus in five

 _Sirius Black:_ after

 _James Potter:_ fine

**10 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald**

_Mary Macdonald:_ When do the final edits need to be completed for Pearson edition 4?

 _Lily Evans:_ Let me double check

 _Lily Evans:_ tomorrow

 _Mary Macdonald:_ uggggh

 _Lily Evans:_ why what’s wrong?

 _Mary Macdonald:_ There’s been a couple delays, emails going back and forth. I’m not going to hit it.

 _Lily Evans:_ okay how close are you?

 _Mary Macdonald:_ I have about 50 pages left

 _Lily Evans:_ damn.

 _Lily Evans:_ all right. Let’s just send what you have to the design team so they can get a jump on it

 _Mary Macdonald:_ Won’t make a difference. Sirius is our lead on this and you know he won’t touch it until the complete content is provided

 _Lily Evans:_ right. Let me see what I can do.

**10 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: James Potter and Lily Evans**

_Lily Evans:_ hey

 _Lily Evans:_ Would you be willing to swap in for Black on the Pearson project?

 _Lily Evans:_ Mary’s not going to hit the deadline, but she’s really close and can provide most of the content

 _James Potter:_ yeah, sure. I’ll talk with him about the project scope

 _Lily Evans:_ thank youuuu!

 _Lily Evans:_ still going to destroy you at gingerbread house making

 _Lily Evans:_ but thank you!

 _James Potter:_ -thumbs up-

**10 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: [Pearson 4 ed Production team meeting chat] Remus Lupin, Mary Macdonald, Lily Evans, Sirius Black**

_Remus Lupin:_ Are we still on target for content delivered to Sirius by tomorrow?

 _Sirius Black:_ James

 _Remus Lupin:_ …

 _Sirius Black:_ James is taking the lead on this design going forward

 _Remus Lupin:_ You know being a project manager would be slightly easier if I was actually involved in the management decisions of this project.

 _Mary Macdonald:_ D:

 _Lily Evans:_ :( Sorry Remus!

_[Remus Lupin has left the meeting]_

**10 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: Remus Lupin and Sirius Black**

_Remus Lupin:_ Why did you give the project to James?

 _Sirius Black:_ James asked if we could swap. Evans asked him to be the lead on this

 _Sirius Black:_ and you know how James gets about Evans

 _Sirius Black:_ anything she wants

 _Remus Lupin:_ Hmm. So, you’re saying he’s going to try to let her win the gingerbread house competition?

 _Sirius Black:_ …

 _Sirius Black:_ well I guess not ANYTHING

**11 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald**

_Lily Evans:_ I almost forgot our entry form for the competition is due today

 _Lily Evans:_ will you join me as my partner?

 _Mary Macdonald:_ do I have to?

 _Lily Evans:_ consider it my Christmas present

 _Mary Macdonald:_ I already got you a Christmas present

 _Lily Evans:_ then birthday?

 _Mary Macdonald:_ Already have that too

 _Lily Evans:_ damn you are a good friend

 _Mary Macdonald:_ I know

 _Lily Evans:_ how about if I win I won’t ask you to go with me to the match

 _Lily Evans:_ and I won’t talk about Puddlemere or football for a month

 _Mary Macdonald:_ deal

 _Mary Macdonald:_ and I’m holding you to that

 _Mary Macdonald:_ and it’s WHEN you win, not if ;)

 _Lily Evans:_ [successkid.jpg]

**11 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew**

_James Potter:_ the entry form for the gingerbread house competition is due today.

 _James Potter:_ who wants to join me??

 _Remus Lupin:_ Why don’t you partner with Lily?

 _James Potter:_ no

 _Sirius Black:_ That would ruin his plan

 _Peter Pettigrew:_ plan?

 _James Potter:_ Not important

 _Sirius Black:_ he’s going to win the tickets then invite her to go with him to the match

 _Peter Pettigrew:_ like a date?

 _Sirius Black:_ like a Date

 _Peter Pettigrew:_ ooh

 _Remus Lupin:_ And what if you don’t win?

 _James Potter:_ I have to.

 _James Potter:_ and I will

 _James Potter:_ we should have try-outs

 _James Potter:_ I thought Sirius but try-outs would be better

 _James Potter:_ tomorrow at 8 PM

 _Remus Lupin:_ No way

 _Sirius Black:_ you’re out of your damn mind if you think I’m spending any part of my Saturday night building gingerbread houses

 _James Potter:_ you’re a rotten best friend

 _Peter Pettigrew:_ why don’t you just ask Lily out?

 _James Potter:_ 8 pm tomorrow. I’ll even buy dinner before

 _Remus Lupin:_ Do you even have supplies for three gingerbread houses?

 _James Potter:_ yes

 _Sirius Black:_ sadly yes

 _Sirius Black:_ our flat is bloody willy wonka’s right now

 _Peter Pettigrew:_ pretty awful if you win you won’t take one of US to the match

 _Remus Lupin:_ I still vote just asking her out. Directly.

 _Sirius Black:_ don’t bring reason into this conversation Remus

 _James Potter:_ how about we just do things MY way for once

 _Sirius Black:_ FOR ONCE

 _Peter Pettigrew:_ for once???

 _James Potter:_ putting Sirius as my partner for now.

 _James Potter:_ subject to CHANGE

 _Sirius Black:_ *crosses fingers*

**14 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald**

_Mary Macdonald:_ morning!

 _Mary Macdonald:_ I just sent James the final pages for the Pearson project, fyi!

 _Mary Macdonald:_ How was your weekend?

 _Lily Evans:_ hey! That’s great. Just in time for the staff meeting

 _Mary Macdonald:_ exactly!

 _Lily Evans:_ weekend was okay.

 _Lily Evans:_ I made my first gingerbread house

 _Mary Macdonald:_ and…

 _Lily Evans:_ well it stood up?

 _Mary Macdonald:_ that seems like the bare minimum for what should happen?

 _Mary Macdonald:_ I mean, I’m not an expert on this particular thing but

 _Lily Evans:_ that’s about all I can say about this attempt

 _Lily Evans:_ I need another go at it before Saturday. would you be up for coming over Wednesday after work?

 _Lily Evans:_ before you say no

 _Lily Evans:_ I’ll have your favorite wine!

 _Mary Macdonald:_ fineee

**14 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew**

_Peter Pettigrew:_ James still mad about this weekend?

 _Sirius Black:_ what do you think?

 _Sirius Black:_ He’ll be fine

 _Remus Lupin:_ You probably shouldn’t have broken all of the gingerbread pieces before we got there.

 _Sirius Black:_ there’s like a 95% chance all of the pieces will be broken during our competition

 _Sirius Black:_ sorry for being REALISTIC

 _Peter Pettigrew:_ I mean yeah but cackling madly as you did so probably sent the wrong message

 _Sirius Black:_ [i-regret-nothing.gif]

 _Remus Lupin:_ That tracks

**14 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald**

_Mary Macdonald:_ Remus is such a great presenter

 _Lily Evans:_ I know

 _Lily Evans:_ he’s just top notch in general

 _Mary Macdonald:_ James isn’t half bad either

 _Lily Evans:_ I suppose

 _Mary Macdonald:_ playing coy but I see you staring at him

 _Lily Evans:_ ???

 _Lily Evans:_ he’s literally presenting?? Where else am I supposed to look??

 _Mary Macdonald:_ methinks the lady doth protest too much

 _Mary Macdonald:_ no shame. He’s a good-looking guy, no one would fault you for enjoying the view

 _Lily Evans:_ HA! He wishes

 _Mary Macdonald:_ I’m sure he does

 _Lily Evans:_ wait, really?

_[Message marked read]_

_Lily Evans:_ not that I care

**14 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: James Potter and Lily Evans**

_Lily Evans:_ your Loverly cover looks amazing!

 _Lily Evans:_ really impressive stuff all around at the staff meeting today

 _James Potter:_ hey! Thanks

 _Lily Evans:_ no problem. I also wanted to say thanks again for joining the Pearson project.

 _Lily Evans:_ Mary should have sent the final portion of content to you today. Sorry she was a day late

 _Lily Evans:_ I know that can really screw up your completion timeline

 _James Potter:_ no worries, I should still be able to hit the deadline this Friday

 _James Potter:_ just in time to celebrate at the Christmas party

 _James Potter:_ [partyhard.gif]

 _Lily Evans:_ I cannot wait

 _James Potter:_ me neither

 _Lily Evans:_ to make you cry by winning the Gingerbread contest

 _Lily Evans:_ Puddlemere CHAMPIONSHIP GAME TICKETS

 _Lily Evans:_ I will literally dieeeeeee

 _James Potter:_ no stop it

 _James Potter:_ you’re trying to act so excited that I’ll feel guilty about trying to beat you

 _James Potter:_ it’s not going to work

 _Lily Evans:_ I’m doing no such thing. I’m actually being really serious! I haven’t gone to a match since University but it was just a regular season game, not playoff

 _Lily Evans:_ it would be the best Christmas ever to go

 _Lily Evans:_ obviously especially if they win

 _James Potter:_ it will be awesome, definitely

 _James Potter:_ and I can honestly say if I don’t win I hope you do

 _Lily Evans:_ aww

 _James Potter:_ BUT I’m still going to destroy you

**15 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald**

_Lily Evans:_ do you really think he does?

 _Mary Macdonald:_ what?

 _Lily Evans:_ nevermind

 _Mary Macdonald:_ what??

_[Message marked read]_

_Mary Macdonald:_ Wait is this about James???

**15 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: James Potter and Sirius Black**

_James Potter:_ how about we try this design: [gingerbread-mansion.jpg]

 _Sirius Black:_ WHAT

 _Sirius Black:_ no

 _Sirius Black:_ you need to stop sending me these pics or I’m quitting

 _James Potter:_ you wouldn’t

 _Sirius Black:_ want to take that bet?

 _James Potter:_ so what do you want to get for lunch today?

 _Sirius Black:_ that’s what I thought

**16 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald**

_Lily Evans:_ Want to pop over to my desk to see the Pearson content in layout?

 _Mary Macdonald:_ your desk?

 _Lily Evans:_ yeah, James is over here

 _Mary Macdonald:_ ooh, I’d hate to interrupt

 _Mary Macdonald:_ carry on ;)

 _Lily Evans:_ sdogjawigj

**16 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: James Potter and Sirius Black**

_James Potter:_ I think I owe you one for swapping the Pearson project?

 _Sirius Black:_ sounds right. what’s up?

 _James Potter:_ not much to tell. Just had an impromptu meeting at Evans’ desk and I think she may have been flirting with me??

 _Sirius Black:_ are you sure you didn’t pretend she was flirting so hard that you convinced your mind she had? Like a hallucination?

 _James Potter:_ Why must you ruin everything for me?

 _Sirius Black:_ have we met?

_[Message marked read]_

**16 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: Lily Evans and Mary Macdonald**

_Lily Evans:_ He could see my screen you KNOW

 _Mary Macdonald:_ what do you care? It’s not like you think he’s fit or anything

 _Lily Evans:_ I’m not blind Mary

 _Mary Macdonald:_ interesting…

 _Lily Evans:_ no, that’s not what I meant.

 _Lily Evans:_ doesn’t matter. I just sent you the artwork in an email. Going to pop over to your desk now

**17 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: Sirius Black and Mary Macdonald**

_Sirius Black:_ The cover for Nelson is nearly complete

 _Sirius Black:_ have a look [nelson-ed1_cvr_v4rfinal.pdf]

 _Mary Macdonald:_ omg

 _Mary Macdonald:_ that looks so good.

 _Mary Macdonald:_ honestly you are so talented. You and James. Hope you are both still making art beyond textbook covers

 _Sirius Black:_ you flatter me

 _Sirius Black:_ which I accept

 _Sirius Black:_ continue on

 _Mary Macdonald:_ like GINGERBREAD HOUSES perhaps??

 _Sirius Black:_ HA no

 _Sirius Black:_ anyway moving on. What else is up with you?

 _Mary Macdonald:_ not much. Well except I think I broke Lily’s brain

 _Sirius Black:_ sounds like a story, go on. Just made a fresh cuppa

 _Mary Macdonald:_ You’ll probably enjoy this

 _Mary Macdonald:_ I was teasing her about staring at James during the staff meeting. And that I don’t think he would mind if she were

 _Sirius Black:_ really now. Interesting. What did she say?

 _Mary Macdonald:_ not much of anything, mostly stunned confusion. A few times she messaged me here like she wanted to talk about it but stopped herself. I went over to her house last night and even after two glasses of wine she didn’t have much to say

 _Mary Macdonald:_ I was just having a bit of fun

 _Sirius Black:_ so do you think she actually would go out with him

 _Sirius Black:_ potentially

 _Sirius Black:_ hypothetically*

 _Sirius Black:_ if he asked

 _Mary Macdonald:_ um what

 _Sirius Black:_ between the two of us, James is hoping to win the Puddlemere tickets and ask her to go with him

 _Mary Macdonald:_ OMG

 _Mary Macdonald:_ omgomg are you serious?

 _Sirius Black:_ would I be voluntarily spending our Christmas party making a gingerbread house instead of getting sloshed if I weren’t serious??

 _Mary Macdonald:_ fair. Sorry I’m still processing this. James…and Lily. James winning the contest for her. that is so cute

 _Sirius Black:_ you sound like James, getting his hopes up. it would take an absolute miracle for us to win

 _Mary Macdonald:_ We did a practice run last night and if they judge quickly we might have a chance. But after about two minutes the entire thing collapsed

 _Sirius Black:_ I have a feeling our friends are going to be severely disappointed

 _Mary Macdonald:_ sounds like we need a plan b

**18 December**

**Microsoft Teams chat**

**Participants: James Potter and Lily Evans**

_Lily Evans:_ just a heads up the artwork for Pearson was approved. You should be receiving the confirmation from Mary shortly

 _James Potter:_ excellent. You just made my Friday!

 _Lily Evans:_ fitting, since I’ll be destroying your Saturday

 _James Potter:_ HA, you sweet summer child

 _Lily Evans:_ Guess we’ll just have to see won’t we?

 _James Potter:_ indeed. See you then!

 _Lily Evans:_ :)

***

The Christmas party at Hogwarts Publishing Ltd. was always the event of the year. The party planning and decorating committee – affectionately named _The House-Elves_ by company president Albus Dumbledore years previously – usually went all out for the occasion. Decorations which always included the holiday staples, such as faux snow, numerous Christmas trees, and multicolored twinkling lights on every available surface, mixed with whatever the yearly theme was.

This year, tastefully called _Winter Wonderland_ , only further explored the quintessential holiday staples. Instead of normal multicolored lights that dangled around the ceiling, the lights this year looked like icicles, bathing everything in a blue, calming hue. Despite the ambience, the large boardroom which housed the event felt extremely cozy.

Lily arrived ten minutes after the party started and found it already crowded with her colleagues. She wove between them, nearly shouting hellos over the loud instrumental music as she went. She spotted Mary talking to Sirius Black near the back of the room and hastened to join them.

“Hi,” she greeted as soon as they noticed her.

“Hey, you look great!” Mary told her before taking a sip of her cocktail.

“You’re drinking before the competition?” Lily asked, scandalized.

“I’m drinking _because_ of the competition,” Mary told her solemnly.

Sirius laughed, tapping his glass to Mary’s. “Cheers to that!”

“By all means, drink up, Black –” 

“Is this sabotage I am hearing? For shame, Evans,” came the sudden voice of James Potter, who walked into view with Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. James was wearing a striking green vest overtop a button down which was already rolled up to his forearms. His clothing always looked immaculate especially compared to his hair. Not that Lily noticed.

“Self-sabotage maybe,” she answered easily. “No one’s forcing Black to drink.”

“I’d still say it’s bad form to encourage it before the competition.”

“All’s fair in love and war.”

“And which bit is this?” Mary asked, gesturing between Lily and James as she hid a poorly concealed smirk behind her drink. Sirius snorted into his own.

“War,” said James, pushing a hand through his tousled black hair. “It’s always war with Evans.”

“Well, this is about as cheerful a conversation as one would expect for a Christmas party,” Remus said merrily, raising his own glass in toast. Lily raised an imaginary glass to him in response and he smiled. “Refreshment table is next to the band.”

“I can go grab you something,” James offered. “Consider it a peace offering.”

“Now who is trying to psych out the competition? Not a chance, Potter. But I’ll let you get my victory drink after I win those Puddlemere tickets.”

A small smile appeared on James’ face as he nodded. “If you insist.”

There was a queue at the refreshment table already, though it thankfully moved quickly. She opted for a small glass of white wine and grabbed a Christmas tree shaped frosted biscuit for good measure. Mary and the boys were still congregated around a high-top table when she returned. As she grew closer, she noticed a seemingly tense conversation between James and Remus which ended abruptly when James turned to see her, an easy smile returning to his face.

“I’ll take that toast now, Remus,” she said, happily clinking her glass to his.

“Cheers.”

“Good evening, everyone!” came Albus Dumbledore’s magnified voice, just as the surrounding music halted. “Happy holidays and merry Christmas to all. Thank you for another successful year at Hogwarts. We have so much to be grateful for and the executive team and I hope this party in addition to your monetary bonus show how appreciative we are of all your hard work. This is not the time for lengthy speeches, please enjoy the festivities. And consider staying until nine for our Gingerbread House Building competition! The winning team will receive two tickets to the league championship match on New Year’s Eve.”

The crowd erupted into polite applause as the music started up again, successfully drowning out Lily’s groan.

“We have to wait nearly two hours,” she complained to Remus and James, the two within earshot. “I was hoping to be basking in victory by then.” Remus and James both laughed, as Mary, Sirius, and Peter drew closer.

“What are we supposed to do while we wait?”

“I have an idea,” Sirius said, finishing off his drink with a grin.

Mary caught Lily’s eye. Lily sighed, a small smile on her lips as she said, “If we must.”

***

Sirius and Mary became the official drink suppliers of their group, though Lily and James spent most of the time before the competition nursing their drinks slowly and trash talking each other.

“You sure you don’t want to drink more?” Lily asked about twenty minutes before the competition was planned to start.

“Quite sure, actually. When it comes to art, I tend to do better at it when I am sober.”

“Art? D’you mean to say you consider gingerbread house decorating to be _art_?”

“I mean to make mine a work of art,” James answered, grinning. “And I consider myself an artist – don’t you?”

“Well, yes, of course. You’re brilliant.” She didn’t notice the extremely pleased look that flitted across James’ face at this admission. “But it’s food decorating more than art. And above all, it’s a means to an end. That end being championship match tickets. Or perhaps you’ve already forgotten?”

James laughed, finishing his drink before taking a step closer to her to set the empty glass on the table next to her. (As his tall figure loomed, she suddenly became very aware that it had only been the two of them talking for quite a while.)

“I hadn’t. And I think that is the first time in history that anyone has ever considered gingerbread house building to be a means to an end for anything. So, congratulations on that, Scrooge.”

“Hey now,” she said, suppressing a laugh at the proud smile James was now sporting. “I can be as festive as the next girl. But I don’t play around when it comes to competitions.”

James had never been more certain that he wanted to take this girl out on a date than he was at that moment – hearing the ferocity in her tone, seeing the flush of her cheeks in the moment. “Fair enough,” he forced out as the silence between them grew long. “Did I overhear you telling Sirius that Patel was your all-time favorite player?”

Their seamless conversation continued until Dumbledore’s voice broke through the party noise again, calling the participants to the middle of the boardroom where tables had been set up for the competition. Together, James and Lily extracted Mary and Sirius from their conversations and led them through the crowd. Five tables were set up in a semi-circle with a longer sixth in front of them. The sixth held an assortment of gingerbread pieces, multiple colors of frosting, and enough variation of sweets to stock a candy shop – multicolored gumdrops, M&Ms, malts, candy canes, licorice and a number of other things Lily couldn’t distinguish from where she stood.

As Dumbledore came into view, a slender graying man, clad in a green velvet three-piece suit, Lily finally looked around to see the other competitors. In addition to herself, Mary, James, and Sirius, Marlene McKinnon and Hestia Jones from Procurement, Marcus Andrews and Lila Malone who were also Project Managers like Remus, and Bertha Jorkins (curiously alone) from Accounting were all gathered around the inner circle. A number of spectators were also visible slowly encircling the competitors.

“Good evening,” Dumbledore said, drawing everyone closer to where he stood by the largest of the tables. He smiled brightly at the group as he spoke. “Just a few rules to share. You will have twenty minutes to build your house using anything you would like on the table behind me. We have separated five separate kits for each of you to grab that ensures each group has four walls, a roof, and standard white icing for their house. In addition to numerous different confectionaries, additional gingerbread pieces and different colored frosting are available should you wish to use them.

“After twenty minutes are up, Minerva, Horace, and I will judge based on both the quality of construction and the decoration of the house. I would now ask that one member of each team stand behind one of the smaller tables. At my word, the second will collect what they need from the table behind me. Good luck, and of course, have fun!”

Wordlessly, Sirius and Mary positioned themselves at adjacent tables. James stood next to Lily, leaning casually down to tell her, “Good luck, Evans.”

Before she could even open her mouth to answer, Dumbledore’s voice signified the beginning of the competition. Lily shot forward to the sweets table, immediately making for the bags of colored frosting, swiping a few, before turning to the candies. There were dozens of bowls and without thinking too much, she immediately started grabbing a spoon and scooped M&Ms, gumdrops, and candy canes into her own bowl. She vaguely noticed James next to her with very calculated movements as he targeted red, white, pink, and green candies.

Suddenly Mary’s voice called to her: “Hurry up, Lily!”

Lily looked up to see that Sirius was already starting to pipe frosting on their gingerbread house. _Shit_. James must have doubled back after passing the kit over to Sirius. Lily sprinted around the table, careful not to spill what was in her hands already, grabbed their kit and another large piece of gingerbread before running to Mary.

“I think this will make a good base we can build on,” she told Mary, gesturing to the large piece of gingerbread as she spilled the contents of her arms onto the table.

“Oy!” Mary admonished, as the bowl of candies rocked precariously, dropping a few M&Ms which spun around the table.

“Sorry. Be right back!”

Lily tore back to the table, which was now vacant except for James and Hestia. Lily evaluated the remaining frosting bags and gingerbread pieces, deciding to grab a couple of each before grabbing another bowl for some additional M&Ms and gumdrops.

When she got back to her table, Mary had already fastened two walls together with the white frosting and was in the process of adding the third. Lily took the opportunity to sort through the candy by color and type, giving her heart the chance to slow down.

Lily and Mary carried on, entirely focused on their own creation. James on the other hand was either on the receiving end of Sirius’ reprimands for getting distracted looking around at the other houses - Lily’s most often – or swearing to himself as another piece of gingerbread split.

By the time Dumbledore called out “Five minutes remaining!”, Lily was feeling a bit sweaty underneath her cotton dress. To their credit, their house was still standing, though one of the roof panels was tilting, dangerously close to falling off. Neither Mary or Lily were confident in their ability to fix it, and therefore were avoiding touching the area for fear of making it worse under the gumdrop weight it already supported. They had attempted to cover the base piece of gingerbread with white frosting as snow, but found they did not have enough so the white was mixed in with the blue and green frosting Lily had grabbed. It was _unique_ , Lily thought kindly as she critiqued herself. She would not allow herself to look too closely at any of the other houses, even though her eyes sought James more than once before she pulled them back to her table.

The two-minute warning came, startling Lily so badly that she smashed her hand directly into the frosting, nearly smashing the candy canes that lined the house “walkway”. Without thinking, she immediately pulled her hand to her mouth as she gasped, coating her face with frosting in the process. She couldn’t contain herself after that, breaking into a fit of laughter that left her shaking as she fixed the candy canes. Mary joined in with gusto, only helping her clean off her face once time ran out.

“Evans, you do understand that the idea is to decorate the house not ourselves, right?” Sirius called.

She turned to look at him and James, mirth on their faces, and even her own. “You’re an artist, Black, you get it. Art imitates life and all that.”

“And it’s delicious,” Mary added, popping an M&M in her mouth.

“Can’t argue there,” Sirius agreed, gesturing to them with a half-eaten candy cane.

Finally, Lily allowed herself to take in the other houses. She had hope bubble up in her chest as she reviewed Marlene’s and Lila’s, but it sank when she walked over to give James and Sirius’ a proper look. They had shades of green and red covering their entire gingerbread house, including a couple of gingerbread snowmen in the “yard” and siding on the house that hung below immaculate frosting icicles.

“Wow,” she told James, but when she looked up at him, he was looking away, sullen.

Lily followed his eyes to Bertha’s house, her jaw dropping. It looked like something one would find in a bloody Home and Garden magazine, the kind Lily’s own meticulous sister would have spent hours constructing. She could only laugh, pushing James lightly on the arm. “Looks like there won’t be a victory drink for either of us tonight.”

James’ eyes locked with hers at her playful shove. “Guess not,” he said, sounding a little sad. But a smile appeared on his face a moment later as Lily moved to stand beside him upon hearing Dumbledore’s voice.

“Congratulation to everyone who participated. I can say with sincerity that it was a very festive competition for all who watched, so I hope you all enjoyed yourself. By unanimous vote, we are delighted to announce Miss Bertha Jorkins as the award winner.” He nodded in her direction, where Minerva was handing her a small custom-made gingerbread house trophy and an envelope Lily eyed enviously even as she clapped along with the rest of the crowd.

Shortly after the announcement they were joined by Remus and Peter, who faithfully told them _they_ wouldn’t have voted for Bertha had they judged. Then, laughing, the group spent the next few minutes cleaning up themselves and the tables, taking nibbles here and there as they went.

“Anyone up for continuing this party at the Hogs Head?” Sirius suggested.

For the first time since she started working there two years previously, Lily finally agreed to go out with Mary and the boys.

“What should we do with these, though?” Lily asked, gesturing to their houses.

“Remus and I will take them over to James and I’s flat. It’s just ‘round the corner. All right, Remus?”

“Sure, no problem. You guys go ahead.”

“Thanks boys,” Mary told them, smiling brightly at the thought of leaving the party for something more lowkey, Lily suspected.

The four of them left Remus and Sirius behind as they collected their coats and headed toward the door.

“Congrats, Bertha,” they called as they passed her. She waved her thanks, a wide grin on her face.

***

The Hogs Head was a dingy pub only a block away from Hogwarts, and the group easily found a large booth to settle in, still discussing the competition. Peter did a great job filling them all in on what the other groups were up to. Apparently at one-point Lila and Marcus deliberated whether to make two separate houses and combine to a mansion, and Lily was forever grateful she had squashed this idea before she put too much thought into it.

Apparently intent on making up lost time, Lily and James were already on their second drink when Sirius and Remus joined them fifteen minutes after they arrived.

“Drinking away your sorrows?” Sirius asked, sliding into the seat next to James with a drink in hand.

“Something like that,” James answered, lips twitching up.

“How about you, Lily? Or are you handling this like a well-adjusted adult?” Remus asked, joining at James’ other side.

Lily smiled apologetically. “Mostly the same, Remus. Only I don’t have the added weight of knowing I would have won if Bertha wasn’t an expert gingerbread house maker.” She looked to James then back to Remus. “James and Sirius would certainly have won if it weren’t for her. I can see why he’d be upset about it. Without Bertha, he’d be lording his tickets over me right about now.”

“So, you haven’t told her yet?” Sirius asked, not bothering to keep his voice low. James shot him an imploring look. “C’mon mate.”

“Tell me what?”

“You really should,” Remus added, smiling conspiratorially behind his drink.

“Tell me what, _James_?”

James looked between the group who were all staring expectantly at him – even Mary – apart from Lily who looked apprehensive. “I will. Later.”

“Anyone up for some darts?” Sirius asked, rising to his feet. “Macdonald, I know you’re a shark. Let’s go take Lupin and Pettigrew down a notch.”

“Subtle,” Mary responded, laughing. But she stood up anyway.

Lily stared at James as he watched their friends walk further into the pub where there were a number of old cork dartboards tacked up to the wall, the spotlights illuminating them more than any other part of the poorly lit space.

“What’s up, James?”

“It’s going to sound stupid when I say it out loud,” he told her honestly. “But I…er I was hoping that if I won that you’d… go with me to the match.”

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “Really? That would have been great. If I’d have won, I don’t even know who I would have asked. Mary’s not a fan. Though I suppose I could have asked my dad. Why would you say that it’s stupid? After all the trash talk between us? That’s so _kind_.”

James’ face darkened and he mumbled under his breath, “I’m going to _kill_ Sirius.”

“What was that?” she asked, sounding wary.

“Nothing, sorry. I don’t know. I just thought it sounded stupid.”

She was taken aback by his short tone, prompting her own, “Okay.”

They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes in which James prayed for the ground to open up and swallow him whole. Lily kept going between looking at James curiously and scrolling mindlessly on her phone.

“Judging by the awkward silence over here, I’m going to guess things did not go well?” Sirius asked, unprompted as he sat down next to James again.

“I thought so?” Lily offered.

“Really? Nice one, James. See, we told you to just ask her out like a _normal_ person.”

“Wait, what?” James hid his face in his hands. “Is that what you meant? Taking me to the match for a _date_? That’s not what you said.”

“ _James_ ,” Sirius said, barely holding back a laugh.

“Yes,” James said slowly. “Like I said…it sounds stupid. And it was _implied_ , Evans. Heavily.”

“I hadn’t realized. I just thought…” her voice trailed off. James looked very uncomfortable, in the most endearing way. Her stomach was somersaulting pleasantly at this news. “Well now that’s another reason for me to be disappointed Bertha won,” Lily said, boldly trying to catch James’ eye.

His face exploded into a smile as their eyes met. “Really, Evans?”

She nodded empathically in response.

“Then I have something that I think will make both of you extremely happy,” Sirius announced, pulling an envelope out of his coat pocket and tossing it onto the table between them.

In unison their hands shot forward, Lily’s reaching first and pulling out the two championship game tickets.

“What?!”

“ _How?_ ”

“Sirius made a deal with Bertha,” Remus supplied happily, trying and failing to swallow a laugh at the tormented look that had formed on Sirius’ face.

“Do we even want to know?” Lily asked, looking between Remus and Sirius.

“Probably not.”

“Nor will you ever know,” Sirius vowed, solemnly.

“You have _amazing_ friends,” Lily told James.

“You have no idea,” he told her, clasping a hand on Sirius and Remus’ shoulders. “Thanks! You’re both brilliant mates.”

“We can’t take all the credit,” Sirius said. “Mary was in on it as well.”

Lily turned to find Mary who had rejoined the group with Peter at some point. She apparently had been too wrapped up in James to notice. “Really, Mare?”

Mary shrugged. “Sirius mentioned James’ plan and I thought it was sweet. And you think he’s fit so you’re welcome.”

“You do?”

Lily ignored James, blush creeping up on her own cheeks. “Thanks, Mary.”

“We’re going to need to circle back to you thinking I’m fit at _some_ point, Evans.”

“How about at the match?” she asked mischievously, sending a small wink at him.

“It’s a date,” he replied, sharing a grin with her.

“Now that that’s sorted, we’re going to need to hear what happened with Bertha,” Peter said, gesturing to Sirius with his glass.

“I’ll never tell,” said Sirius. “James, go get the next round to celebrate your victory.”

Despite Sirius’ constant vehemence over the weeks to follow that he would never tell the group what he agreed to, as time passed he eventually acquiesced to their request – but it wasn’t until four years later, when giving his best man’s toast at Lily and James’ wedding.


End file.
